Ukrainian officials have been using the war with Russia as a smokescreen by which to enrich themselves by “extorting, plundering and weakening commercial rivals” to create a new political elite, reportsPOLITICO.
Julia Kiryanova, CEO of Smart Holding – one of Ukraine’s largest investment conglomerates – told POLITICO the company had up to $96 million in assets, the deeds to 40 companies, and 30 natural gas wells seized by Ukraine’s security services. The raids were conducted on hazy security concerns, they claim.
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And Smart Holding was not alone. Parimatch, an international sports betting company, was sanctioned in March this year without any “formal communication [or] explanation,” despite emphasizing its Ukrainian ownership and donating over $40 million in humanitarian aid related to the war.
The Ukrainian government’s aim, according to Kiryanova, is to strip the wealth of the “old elite” to give to a new one. “New oligarchs will appear soon,” she added, “nobody’s safe.”
“When the country and people need unity the most, some of the very powerful are using the cloud of war to rape businesses,” said another corporate executive to POLITICO.
Ukrainian corruption concerns go beyond the seizure of private company assets. Seymour Hersch recently reported a grand scheme that saw Ukraine embezzling more than $400 million of U.S. taxpayers’ funds. Last year, Germany even delayed the distribution of financial aid due to corruption concerns.
A high courtjudge in London ordered actor and right-wing activist Laurence Fox to pay £180,000 (~$224,748) in damages to two people whom he called ‘pedophile’ [sic] online. Fox — founder of the right-wing populist Reclaim party — was the subject of a libel case for referring to Simon Blake, an ex-trustee of LGBTQ+ charity Stonewall, and a drag performer named Colin Seymour as “pedophiles,” after the two accused him of being a “racist” on X (formerly Twitter).
In October 2020, Fox announced he was boycotting UK supermarket chain Sainsbury’s for its support of black history month. Fox’s announcement was met with accusations of racism by Blake and Seymour, as well as broadcaster Nicola Thorp. Fox responded to the allegations by calling his three detractors pedophiles. In response, Blake and Seymour sued Fox for libel.
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The order to pay the two men £90,000 (~$112,374) each follows Fox’s losing his court bottle in January. Fox had counter-sued Blake and Seymour, claiming the pair’s allegations of racism were “reputation-destroying” and “career-ending.” He claimed they resulted in a “significant decline” in work.
“Mr. Fox’s labeling of Mr. Blake and Mr. Seymour as pedophiles was, on the evidence… seriously harmful, defamatory and baseless,” said Justice Collins Rice. “The law affords few defenses to defamation of this sort. Mr Fox did not attempt to show these allegations were true, and he was not able to bring himself on the facts within the terms of any other defense recognized in law.” The judge also said that the tweets calling Fox ‘racist’ were unlikely to harm his reputation.
During the trial, Fox maintained he was a victim of racism. “There’s huge quantities of anti-right white racism in the world. It’s the only acceptable form of racism there is left.”
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A high court judge in London ordered actor and right-wing activist Laurence Fox to pay £180,000 (~$224,748) in damages to two people whom he called 'pedophile' [sic] online. Fox — founder of the right-wing populist Reclaim party — was the subject of a libel case for referring to Simon Blake, an ex-trustee of LGBTQ+ charity Stonewall, and a drag performer named Colin Seymour as "pedophiles," after the two accused him of being a "racist" on X (formerly Twitter).
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Gateway Pundit, a well-known right-wing news website, has declared that its parent company, TGP Communications, is seeking Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in Florida. This comes in response to what the site’s founder, Jim Hoft, describes as a series of “lawfare attacks” allegedly initiated by “the radical left.” Hoft detailed the issue in a post on Wednesday.
“TGP Communications, the parent company of The Gateway Pundit, recently made the decision to seek protection under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code in the Southern District of Florida as a result of the progressive liberal lawfare attacks against our media outlet,” Hoft wrote.
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‘This is not an admission of fault or culpability. This is a common tool for reorganization and to consolidate litigation when attacks are coming from all sides. It allows TGP to consolidate this lawfare in one court for ultimate resolution,” he continued.
“Despite the radical left’s efforts to silence The Gateway Pundit through censorship, de-platforming, de-banking, cut-off from advertisers, and other financial strategies, we will not be deterred from our mission of remaining fearless and being one of the most trusted independent media outlets in America today.”
The company currently faces multiple lawsuits, many of which stem from the information published by Gateway Pundit regarding the 2020 electoral process. Dominion Voting Systems, a controversial firm that played a key role in vote tabulation during the 2020 presidential elections, has leveled defamation charges against the organization.
Two ex-election workers from Georgia have also initiated lawsuits against Gateway Pundit. Posts from the media outlet suggested these workers were involved in election fraud, an accusation the workers firmly deny.
Gateway Pundit, a well-known right-wing news website, has declared that its parent company, TGP Communications, is seeking Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in Florida. This comes in response to what the site's founder, Jim Hoft, describes as a series of "lawfare attacks" allegedly initiated by "the radical left." Hoft detailed the issue in a post on Wednesday.
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The attorney representing special counsel Jack Smith before the United States Supreme Court‘s hearing over former President DonaldTrump‘s presidential immunity claim was also a ringleader behind the Russiacollusionhoax. Michael Dreeben, a federal attorney with the Department of Justice (DOJ), was revealed in 2018 as the primary legal mind behind special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe into allegations that Trump colluded with Russia during the 2016 election.
Dreeben has a long track record of partisan lawfare. Prior to his tenure at the DOJ, he served as a staffer to Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY). It was Dreeben who, despite the Mueller team knowing that the Russian collusion accusations were false, engineered the legal strategy of pursuing Trump over “obstruction of justice” for opposing the Democrats‘ witch hunt.
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In addition to his stint on the Mueller team, Dreeben advised former Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance on his “get Trump” operation. Interestingly, Mark Pomerantz was also working with Cyrus Vance at the time and would have likely interacted with Dreeben. Pomerantz likely pushed current Manhattan District Attorney AlvinBragg into pursuing the hush money charges against Trump, which are currently being heard at trial.
The DOJ attorney has argued over 100 cases before the Supreme Court while working in the U.S. Solicitor General’s office. Late last year, conservative commentator Molly Hemmingway — regarding Dreeeben — noted, “That the elite attorney is helping Democrats with their 2024 campaign strategy of lawfare is significant and showcases how much coordination between key Democrat operatives is behind this Soviet-style attempt to imprison President Joe Biden’s political opponents.”
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The attorney representing special counsel Jack Smith before the United States Supreme Court's hearing over former President DonaldTrump's presidential immunity claim was also a ringleader behind the Russiacollusionhoax. Michael Dreeben, a federal attorney with the Department of Justice (DOJ), was revealed in 2018 as the primary legal mind behind special counsel Robert Mueller's probe into allegations that Trump colluded with Russia during the 2016 election.
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TikTok’s Chinese-owned parent company, ByteDance, would prefer the United States government ban the social media app rather than sell it to a non-Chinese buyer. According to Reuters, citing four anonymous sources, ByteDance does not wish to part with control over the app’s algorithm, which it views as critical to the success of its network of technology ventures.
ByteDance has signaled it intends to pursue legal action against the Biden government to halt the newly signed law, forcing it to divest from TikTok or face the app’s ban. While TikTok only accounts for a relatively small share of ByteDance’s overall revenue, its algorithm, which determines what content is promoted to users and encourages continued engagement on the app, is far more valuable. As Americans only account for a small portion of the app’s overall user base, ByteDance prefers shuttering its U.S. presence instead of losing control of TikTok’s algorithm.
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The Chinese company denied earlier reports on Thursday it was exploring avenues to sell the TikTok social media app. On Wednesday, TikTok’s CEO Shou Zi Chew said he expects the company to win its legal challenge against the divestment law. However, the National Pulse previously reported that House Republicans worked with officials at the Department of Justice to ensure the language of the law would make it difficult to overturn in court.
As it stands, ByteDance has until January 19, 2025, to find a buyer for the TikTok app. The U.S. government, however, could extend the deadline an additional three months if it believes ByteDance is close to making a sale. If ByteDance chooses not to sell or cannot reach an agreement with a purchaser, the U.S. ban on TikTok will take effect.
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TikTok's Chinese-owned parent company, ByteDance, would prefer the United States government ban the social media app rather than sell it to a non-Chinese buyer. According to Reuters, citing four anonymous sources, ByteDance does not wish to part with control over the app's algorithm, which it views as critical to the success of its network of technology ventures.
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Artificial Intelligence (AI) can successfully predict a person’s political orientation based on images of a blank facial expression, a development that researchers say shows that facial recognition technology is “more threatening than previously thought” and poses “serious challenges to privacy.” It also supports the idea that physiognomy, often discredited as ‘pseudoscience,’ may, in fact, be a valid practice.
A recent study published in the journal American Psychologist revealed that an algorithm’s ability to accurately guess a person’s political views is “on par with how well job interviews predict job success, or alcohol drives aggressiveness.” According to lead author Michal Kosinski, the 591 participants filled out a political orientation questionnaire. AI then captured what Kosinski described as a numerical “fingerprint” of participants’ faces and compared them to a database to predict political views.
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“Participants wore a black T-shirt adjusted using binder clips to cover their clothes. They removed all jewelry and – if necessary – shaved facial hair. Face wipes were used to remove cosmetics until no residues were detected on a fresh wipe. Their hair was pulled back using hair ties, hair pins, and a headband while taking care to avoid flyaway hairs,” the study’s authors wrote.
A facial recognition algorithm — VGGFace2 — then examined the images to determine “face descriptors, or a numerical vector that is both unique to that individual and consistent across their different images.”
‘MORE THREATENING THAT PREVIOUSLY THOUGHT.’
“Descriptors extracted from a given image are compared to those stored in a database. If they are similar enough, the faces are considered a match. Here, we use a linear regression to map face descriptors on a political orientation scale and then use this mapping to predict political orientation for a previously unseen face,” the study said.
The study’s authors observed that an “analysis of facial features associated with political orientation revealed that conservatives tended to have larger lower faces.”
“Perhaps most crucially, our findings suggest that widespread biometric surveillance technologies are more threatening than previously thought,” the study warns. “Our results, suggesting that stable facial features convey a substantial amount of the signal, imply that individuals have less control over their privacy.”
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Artificial Intelligence (AI) can successfully predict a person's political orientation based on images of a blank facial expression, a development that researchers say shows that facial recognition technology is "more threatening than previously thought" and poses "serious challenges to privacy." It also supports the idea that physiognomy, often discredited as 'pseudoscience,' may, in fact, be a valid practice.
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Supplying President Volodymyr Zelensk’s forces in Ukraine with Western arms and ammunition has badly depleted Britain’s military stocks, the Minister of State for Defence Procurement has revealed. James Cartlidge of the Conservative Party says the war has left Britain short of tanks, missiles, and munitions.
“[T]here’s been huge support for the way that the UK has stood by Ukraine providing huge numbers of munitions, Storm Shadow [missiles], tanks and so on,” Cartlidge said — exaggerating Britain’s contributions, considering only 14 main battle tanks could be spared from the country’s tiny fleet.
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“I think the public wants to know that in doing that, we are replenishing our own stocks and munitions,” he added, confirming the government would have to spend “£10 billion ($12.48 billion) more for munitions.”
It has previously been reported that the British Army would run out of munitions in just ten days of full-scale warfare, speaking to the parlous state of the many European NATO members militaries.
The U.S., which has carried NATO for many years, is also running short on munitions. Biden was forced to consider sending arms to Ukraine without replenishing U.S. stocks. He has already been forced to begin sending Ukraine cluster bombs, outlawed by many NATO members due to their tendency to kill and maim civilians years after their initial use, due to a shortage of conventional munitions.
Russia is believed to be outpacing the West in artillery shell production by three-to-one. Artillery has been vital to the fighting in Ukraine, with Zelensky estimating his forces need a minimum of four million shells. However, the U.S. can only produce 360,000 a year, causing war skeptics such as Senator J.D. Vance to question the wisdom of prolonging the war at U.S. taxpayer expense.
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Supplying President Volodymyr Zelensk's forces in Ukraine with Western arms and ammunition has badly depleted Britain's military stocks, the Minister of State for Defence Procurement has revealed. James Cartlidge of the Conservative Party says the war has left Britain short of tanks, missiles, and munitions.
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The House Judiciary Committee and House Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government have uncovered evidence the federal government pressured at least 13 banks into handing over American conservatives’ information without a warrant. The U.S. Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) told financial institutions, including Bank of America, Chase, Citi Bank, and Wells Fargo, to sift customers’ transactions for so-called “extremism” indicators, such as searches including the term “Trump.”
Searches including the term “MAGA” were also included as an “extremism” indicator, along with purchases of the Bible. Following January 6, FinCEN suggested banks sift through transactions at hunting, fishing, and camping stores like Bass Pro Shops and Dick’s Sporting Goods.
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At least 211 Americans had their personal information transferred to FinCEN and the FBI by Bank of America on January 17, 2021. The bank was asked for more details on “weapons-related transactions” among the group, leading to “criminal background queries” into four bank customers. Federal agents established multiple leads on additional persons after this, but they had to be pulled because there were no “allegations of federal criminal conduct.”
WARRANTLESS SURVEILLANCE.
“This kind of warrantless financial surveillance raises serious concerns about the federal government’s respect for Americans’ privacy and fundamental civil liberties,” Jordan wrote Janet Yellen, Joe Biden’s Treasury Secretary.
“Given this coordination, the Committee and Select Subcommittee are concerned that the federal government, through the FBI and FinCEN, sent similar or identical [requests] to other financial institutions… to elicit the information and transaction history of individuals without any allegation of federal criminal conduct,” he said.
The authorities have stepped up their persecution of January 6 defendants ahead of the presidential elections in November, with up to 445 new cases coming before the courts — more than the total for 2022 and 2023.
Earlier this month, Rebecca Lavrenz, a 71-year-old great-grandmother who briefly prayed inside the U.S. Capitol on January 6, was convicted. National Pulse editor-in-chief Raheem Kassam called the case “disgusting.”
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The House Judiciary Committee and House Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government have uncovered evidence the federal government pressured at least 13 banks into handing over American conservatives' information without a warrant. The U.S. Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) told financial institutions, including Bank of America, Chase, Citi Bank, and Wells Fargo, to sift customers' transactions for so-called "extremism" indicators, such as searches including the term "Trump."
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The Biden government on Thursday unveiled one of its most extreme environmental regulations yet, requiring coal-fired power plants to almost entirely eliminate their emissions or else face being shutdown. Under the new Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulation, these power plants must decrease their pollutants by an ambitious 90 percent by 2039 — one year earlier than the originally proposed 2040. Representatives from the coal power industry have called the emissions benchmarks set by the EPA unrealistic.
In addition to the new emissions standards, the EPA is imposing more stringent controls on mercury emissions — a neurotoxin associated with developmental harm to children — from specific plants that use lignite coal, an inferior grade of coal. Other regulations will require more rigorous management of toxic ash seepage from coal stations into the surrounding water table and promote stricter surveillance of coal plant wastewater discharge.
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The EPA’s regulatory announcements could amount to the potential end of the coal industry in the United States. Environmental activists, however, hail the possibility as they contend that coal combustion is responsible for the highest level of carbon dioxide emissions globally.
These new regulations follow actions undertaken by the Biden government to severely restrict emissions from American cars and trucks. The new automobile emission standards aim in part to fast-track the adoption of electric vehicles among American consumers. Officials in the Biden government have reiterated their intent to reduce U.S. carbon emissions by roughly 50 percent by 2030 and achieve complete decarbonization of the power industry by 2035.
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The Biden government on Thursday unveiled one of its most extreme environmental regulations yet, requiring coal-fired power plants to almost entirely eliminate their emissions or else face being shutdown. Under the new Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulation, these power plants must decrease their pollutants by an ambitious 90 percent by 2039 — one year earlier than the originally proposed 2040. Representatives from the coal power industry have called the emissions benchmarks set by the EPA unrealistic.
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Defense lawyer Vinoo Varghese has revealed that the New Yorkjudge overseeing the prosecution of hobbyist gunsmith Dexter Taylor told him he could not use the Second Amendment to defend his client, insisting it “doesn’t exist” in the Empire State.
“She told us, ‘Do not bring the Second Amendment into this courtroom. It doesn’t exist here. So you can’t argue Second Amendment. This is New York,'” said Varghese.
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Judge Abena Darkeh, blasted as a “DEI hire” by online commentators, is also Vice President of the Association of Ghanaian Lawyers of America. She is alleged to have acted as “the most aggressive prosecutor in the room.” The Bill de Blasio appointee is accused of limiting the scope of Taylor’s defense and indirectly instructing jurors they “must vote guilty.”
Taylor, a black conservative who has discussed his hobby on YouTube under the pseudonym Carbon Mike, faces ten to 18 years in prison at sentencing on May 18. While prosecutors describe Taylor as having “acquired a massive arsenal of homemade ghost guns,” the 52-year-old insists he was merely machining legal parts together as a hobby. He says he is also a hobbyist carpenter, radio operator, and technician with a “squeaky-clean criminal record.”
Taylor’s defenders argue that, federally, manufacturing one’s own firearms is lawful, with the Gun Control Act of 1968 allowing unlicensed civilians to make firearms for personal use only. Taylor’s lawyers argue he did not even fire his guns, still less distribute or sell them.
E. Jean Carroll, the 80-year-old advice columnist who claims Donald Trump raped her in a busy department store in the 1990s, previously boasted about owning an unlicensed firearm. Police confiscated it earlier this month, but there is no evidence she was arrested or charged with a crime.
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Defense lawyer Vinoo Varghese has revealed that the New York judge overseeing the prosecution of hobbyist gunsmith Dexter Taylor told him he could not use the Second Amendment to defend his client, insisting it "doesn't exist" in the Empire State.
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The U.S. is demanding “answers” from Israel following the discovery of mass graves near two hospitals in Gaza. Palestinian authorities discovered nearly 400 bodies in mass graves outside the Nasser and al-Shifa hospitals. The remains include those of women and the elderly. Some of the bodies were found naked with their hands tied behind their backs.
“Among the deceased were allegedly older people, women and wounded, while others were found tied with their hands and stripped of their clothes,” said a spokesman for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. “This of course indicates serious violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law, and these need to be subjected to further investigations.”
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White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan called the reports “deeply disturbing.”
“We want answers,” Sullivan told reporters. “We want to see this thoroughly and transparently investigated.”
The Israeli army has denied responsibility, calling any suggestions to the contrary “baseless” and “unfounded.” It claims the graves were “dug by Gazans” months ago.
‘LOSING THE PR WAR.’
The discovery of the graves coincides with an impending Israeli assault against Rafah. The Israeli military has mobilized two reservist brigades, with footage suggesting preparations for refugee relocation in Khan Younis, near Rafah. Israel’s government, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, has indicated the impending initiation of a ground operation.
Despite warnings of an imminent humanitarian crisis, Israel plans on evacuating Palestinian civilians from Rafah. The Israeli Defence Ministry acquired 40,000 tents to accommodate Palestinians evacuated from Rafah in anticipation of assault.
Should allegations of Israeli responsibility for the mass graves prove true, it will be a significant blow to the Jewish State’s reputation and ability to continue its war against Hamas. The Israeli military response and civilian death toll in Gaza has increased global sympathy for the Palestinians. Politicians in countries that are key Israeli allies, including the U.S. and UK, have called to cease arms shipments to Israel. Former President Donald Trump has repeatedly warned that Israel is losing a vital PR war and must finish up its military action in Gaza quickly.
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The U.S. is demanding "answers" from Israel following the discovery of mass graves near two hospitals in Gaza. Palestinian authorities discovered nearly 400 bodies in mass graves outside the Nasser and al-Shifa hospitals. The remains include those of women and the elderly. Some of the bodies were found naked with their hands tied behind their backs.
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